Jaume Collet-Serra to Direct LE CERCLE ROUGE Remake, RED CIRCLE

Jaume Collet-Serra is heating up as a director even though his latest film, Unknown, is a flaccid, unimaginative thriller (his previous film, Orphan, isn’t renown as a great piece of cinema either). Last week we reported that he was attached to helm Harker, a re-imagining of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Now Deadline is reporting that he’s making a deal to direct Red Circle, a remake of the classic 1970 Jean-Pierre Melville heist flick Le Cercle Rouge. This remake is made worse by the fact that Eastern Promises screenwriter Steven Knight is handling the script (Eastern Promises works because of Cronenberg and Mortensen and in spite of the weak screenplay).

Deadline reports that Collet-Serra’s popularity comes from delivering Unknown for $30 million and with international box office potential. Red Circle will be set in Hong Kong, but Collet-Serra hasn’t settled yet on what his next project will be. For those unfamiliar with Le Cercle Rouge, hit the jump for a synopsis.

Alain Delon plays a master thief, fresh out of prison, who crosses paths with a notorious escapee (Gian Maria Volonté) and an alcoholic ex-cop (Yves Montand). The unlikely trio plot a heist, against impossible odds, until a relentless inspector and their own pasts seal their fates. Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le cercle rouge combines honorable antiheroes, coolly atmospheric cinematography, and breathtaking set pieces to create a masterpiece of crime cinema.